Avicennia germinans

image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Avicennia-germinans.jpg

image source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Avicennia_germinans-flowers2.jpg

NAMING

Scientific Name: Avicennia germinans
Family: Verbenaceae
Common: black mangrove

HABITAT

Native
Habitat: saline soils
Range: St Augustine as far north as you’ll find them

TREE TRUNK

Size: 75 ft tall, can be 120 ft in tropical areas
Bark: –

LEAVES

simple
opposite
vary in shape
thick and leathery
glaborous
grey pubescent
Bottom of leaf tastes like salt

REPRODUCTION

Flowers:
Fruit: lima bean capsule
viveprous: fruit germinates before it falls off (tidal)

USES

Wildlife – roosting and nesting, shady environment for fish

Commercial – some ornamental, stops shore erosion

TOLERANCES

Shade: no
Salt: high
Fire: low
Flood: moderate
Drought: low

Callicarpa americana

NAMING

Scientific Name: Callicarpa americana
Family: Verbenaceae
Common: American beautyberry

HABITAT

Native
Habitat: Pinelands, disturbed areas
Range: Southern U.S.

TREE TRUNK

Size: 15ft tall max
Bark: Smooth when young, Platy when mature
Twigs: 4-ranked

LEAVES

Leaf arrangement: opposite
Leaf type: simple
Leaf margin: crinate
Leaf shape: elliptic
Leaf blade length: 2 to 8 inches long
Leaf venation: pinnate (impressed into leaf)
Leaf color: green, pubescence on both sides
Leaf persistence: deciduous

REPRODUCTION

Flowers: small, light pink (grow on axel of the leaf)
Fruit: clustered drupe (green to purple)

USES

Wildlife – not favored

Commercial – horticulture use, research for bug spray

TOLERANCES

Fire – High
Shade -Intermediate
Flood – No
Salt – No